THE ALABAMA REVIEW
Thank you for your interest in publishing in the Alabama Review. The following requirements, guidelines, and suggestions will help ensure that your manuscript receives every consideration by the editorial staff.
The Review publishes original scholarship concerning Alabama history. We do not accept submissions that have been previously published in any form, and we do not accept submissions that are currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. We will consider manuscripts that are part of a larger, future work, but only if the resulting article will appear before the larger work is published.
Technical Specifications
Manuscripts should be submitted electronically as an e-mail attachment to [email protected]. The Alabama Review does not accept paper copies of manuscripts.
Submissions should be Microsoft Word accessible (preferably .doc or .docx). Please use standard 1” margins and 12-point font (preferably Times New Roman). Double-space all text, including excerpts and block quotes and notes. Footnotes are preferred, though endnotes are acceptable for the preliminary submission. If you would like to have images or illustrations considered as part of the submission, please include copies (rough copies are acceptable during the preliminary stage of consideration).
In addition to the manuscript, please attach a brief, 1-2 page CV.
Timeline for Publication
Once submitted, the editorial staff will read through the manuscript and decide whether or not to send it to outside readers. They will consider the submission blindly and report on its merits. The author will have an opportunity to read the reader reports and to make any required changes or amendments; in some cases, the revised manuscript will be sent to a reader as well. The editorial staff of the Alabama Review will then make a final decision on publication.
Please understand that the process of peer review can be time-consuming. The editorial staff will make every effort to communicate with you concerning the status of your manuscript, and should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us directly. Formatting Preferences
While the editorial staff does not expect submissions to be errorless, manuscripts that conform to the general guidelines of the journal help to expedite the review and publication process. The following notes are intended to help authors format submissions to fit more closely with the Review’s preferences. When in doubt, authors should consult the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., for assistance with formatting, grammar, style, etc.
General Formatting
1. Double-space the entire manuscript—text, block quotations, notes, captions for illustrations, etc.
2. Use one-inch margins all around—top, bottom, left, and right.
3. Use left alignment throughout, not justified.
4. Place the title on the first page of article, but do not include the author’s name anywhere in the manuscript. The editorial staff will try to remove identifying information from the manuscript before it is sent to readers, but the author should strive to preserve anonymity.
5. Place page numbers at the bottom right of pages.
Formatting the Text
6. Use italics rather than underlining for titles. The following word is not italicized: ibid. The following word is italicized: [sic]
7. Use 12-point font for all text, block quotations, notes, and captions. We prefer Times New Roman.
8. Use square brackets “[ ]” to indicate missing or illegible words and interpolations or alterations within quotations. See Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 6.104, 11.66-11.68.
9. Use quotation marks only to indicate direct quotations from sources. Do not use quotation marks for special emphasis.
10. Use single quotation marks only for quotations within quotations. Double quotation marks are appropriate in most cases.
11. Block quotations: Set off from text all quotations that consist of one hundred words or more and all quotations that consist of more than one paragraph. Indent the left margin of the block quotation an additional one-half inch.
12. Superscript note numbers in both the text and notes.
13. Use a single tab, not the auto-indent feature, at the beginning of each paragraph.
14. Do not use subheadings or extra spaces between paragraphs within the text.
15. Double-check all quotations for accuracy, including capitalization, spelling, punctuation, etc.
16. Consult the “Stylistic Preferences” for preferred style of capitalization, hyphenation, spelling, form, and usage.
Formatting Notes and Sources
17. Do not include a bibliography.
18. Except as shown in examples below, style of notes should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., chapters 16 and 17.
19. Where feasible, avoid multiple note references within one paragraph by grouping citations for the paragraph in one note. Do not, however, consolidate all citations for a paragraph if it sacrifices clarity of reference.
20. Do not use “ibid.” if more than one work is cited in the preceding note.
21. Provide only the place and date of publication (not publisher) when citing books. State names should be abbreviated according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 15.29. Do not use two-letter postal abbreviations for states (i.e., use “Ala.,” not “AL”).
22. Insure that citations from archival or manuscript sources conform to the preferred citation form of the repository. Authors should contact the reference staff of the repository that holds the cited records or papers and confirm that the citation form is acceptable.
23. The following are pertinent examples of citations of secondary sources:
1 Peggy K. Liss, Atlantic Empires: The Network of Trade and Revolution, 1713-1826 (Baltimore, 1982), 66. 2 P. Lewayne Findley and Joseph T. Robertson, “Camp Sibert, Alabama: Alabama’s First Chemical Warfare Center, 1942-1945,” Alabama Review 49 (January 1995): 11. 3 Liss, Atlantic Empires, 85-97. 4 Findley and Robertson, “Camp Sibert, Alabama,” 13-15. 5 Ibid. 6 D. Brian Landrum and Angeline Nuar, “The 1908 Quick Monoplane: First Flight in Alabama?” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, AIAA 2003-0100, http://www.eb.uah.edu/org/aiaa/QuickMonoplane/Research/AIAA_2003_0100.pdf (accessed August 6, 2003), 1-3. 7 Ann Wells Ellis, “The Commission on Interracial Cooperation, 1919-1944: Its Activities and Results” (Ph.D. diss., Georgia State University, 1975), 53. 8 Anthony Paul Underwood, “A Progressive History of the Young Men’s Business Club of Birmingham, Alabama, 1946-1970” (M.A. thesis, Samford University, 1980), 1-27. 9 Ellis, “Commission on Interracial Cooperation,” 100-101. 10 Herbert Gutman, “The Negro and the United Mine Workers of America: The Case and Letters of Richard L. Davis and Something of Their Meaning, 1890-1900,” in The Negro and the American Labor Movement, ed. Julius Jacobson (Garden City, N.Y., 1968), 49-127.
24. The following are pertinent examples of citations of primary sources:
11 Birmingham Post-Herald, May 3, 1961. 12 Jean-Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe, The Historical Journal of the Establishment of the French in Louisiana, trans. Joan Cain and Virginia Koenig, ed. Glenn Conrad (Lafayette, La., 1971), 61. 13 Henry C. Merriam, "The Capture of Mobile," in War Papers: Read before the Commandery of the State of Maine, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (1908; reprint, Wilmington, N.C., 1992), 3:246. 14 R. Taylor to Gov. T. H. Watts, March 12, 1865, War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and the Confederate Armies (Washington, D.C., 1880- 1901) (hereafter cited as O.R.), ser. 1, vol. 49, pt. 1, p. 1050. 15 Report of Col. Jacob G. Vail, 17th Indiana (Mounted) Infantry, April 7, 1865, O.R., ser. 1, vol. 49, pt. 1, pp. 449-50. 16 William B. Bankhead to Tallulah Bankhead, February 19, 1918, Tallulah Bankhead Papers, LPR 45 (hereafter cited as TB Papers), Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery. 17 Ivan Abramson to TB, May 21, 1918, TB Papers. 18 E. D. Strunk to D. Ullmann, March 5, 1864, Series 159, Generals' Papers and Books, Records Relating to Wars, Adjutant General's Office, Record Group 94 (hereafter cited as RG 94), National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. 19 U.S. Census, 1880, National Archives Microfilm Publication T9, reel 13, Alabama, Franklin County, Russellville, p. 37. 20 John F. Andrews to Mrs. Clement Claiborne Clay, July 10, 1863, Clement Claiborne Clay Papers, 1811-1865, Huntsville (Madison County), Alabama, Records of Antebellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series F, Selections from the Manuscript Department, Duke University Library, Part 1, The Deep South (Frederick, Md., 1986), microfilm, reel 21.
Stylistic Guidelines
The following, while not comprehensive, is an extensive, alphabetized list of the stylistic guidelines and preferences utilized by the editorial staff of the Alabama Review. Authors should strive to adopt these guidelines where appropriate. a historian act/Act (Restrictive Act of 1832, but 1832 act) African American (no hyphen in any case), NOT negro. Black is also acceptable. Alabamians a.m./p.m. amendment, but Twenty-fourth Amendment American Party Anglo-American antebellum (lower case) anti-abolitionist antislavery army army reserve corps Auburn University at Montgomery
Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of the Bulge Bible Belt Big Mules Birmingham District; the District Black Belt (adj.: Black-Belt industry) Black Power movement, but black power Bourbons circa abbreviated as “ca.,” not “c.” Cahaba (for town, add parenthetical statement to first mention “originally spelled Cahawba”) Cahaba River carpetbagger chapter abbreviated as “ch.” Civil Rights movement Cold War Communist Party; the party Confederate Army, Confederacy Confederate states, the "X" Congressional District Congress (capitalize), but congressman (lowercase) convict lease system dates: use month, day, year form (i.e., October 22, 1948) in headline, use all numbers for a spread of years. i.e. 1933-1940 for a questionable date, use a question mark (i.e. 1868?-1941) de Soto, Hernando (for last name only, use “de Soto,” not “Soto”) Deep South (caps.) Democratic Party; the party the depression (but the Great Depression) DuBois, W. E. B. Du Bois’s
Eastern Hemisphere ex-Confederate federal government Federals, Federal troops fire eater as a noun; fire-eater as an adjective
GI (government issue) Gilded Age the Great Depression Gulf South grass roots; grass-roots system
HarperCollins
Ibid., ibid. (no italics, include period)
Jr. – do not set off with comma: Martin Luther King Jr. spoke.
Know-Nothing Party laypeople Lee's army the Lost Cause Louisianans (not Louisianians) Lower Creeks (noun); Lower Creek (adj.) Lower South (caps.) master’s degree Middle Passage military grades: abbreviate with full name, but do not abbreviate with surname only; for example, Maj. Edward Nicholls, but Major Nicholls military regiments: Eleventh Alabama, 137th Alabama. Spell out numbers under 100. Montgomery bus boycott
Native Americans, Native American (adj.) New South New South Creed nicknames: Charlotte “Lottie” Barnes non-slaveholding non-southerner north Alabama northern, northerner (lowercase) numbers: do not superscript ordinal suffixes (i.e., 137th, NOT 137th) – this also applies to military regiments, i.e. the Fifteenth Alabama
Old South Old Southwest (caps.) passim (do not italicize) postbellum (no hyphen) pre-World War I Progressive movement Prohibition movement radical Republicans; radicals radical Reconstruction Reconstruction, Reconstruction Era redeemers reenslave Republican Party; the party the reverend; the Reverend William Kimbrell
[sic] “the sectional crisis” is an acceptable term for the Civil War the School of Education, the school “she” and “her” are appropriate only when referring to women. Use “it” for boats and for the state of Alabama. slave owner, but slaveholder Social Darwinism the South south Alabama the Southeast, but southeastern Southern Tenant Farmers' Union southern, southerner (lowercase) Sr. – do not set off with coma (i.e.: Ben Davis Sr.) states' rights; states’-rights (adj.) theater of war Third World traveled Tuskegee Institute (in note: Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, founded July 4, 1881. The school became Tuskegee University in 1985. Source: http://www.tuskegee.edu.)
Union Army Unionism, Unionists The University of Alabama The University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama in Huntsville Upper Creeks (noun); Upper Creek (adj.) Upper South U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Confederate Army (but the army, the navy, Lee's army) U.S. Supreme Court vice president
Western civilization Western Hemisphere Wind Clan Woman's Christian Temperance Union woman suffrage Wiregrass